Do you feel that you have the right to a service or financial assistance? Does the government department or agency concerned feel the opposite? Just remember that you have rights and recourse.
Your public service rights
When you call on a Government of Québec department or agency, your rights must be upheld.
- Right to be respected and treated fairly. Staff must remain polite and respect your privacy. They must also avoid any discrimination and handle your request rigorously.
- Right to complete your file. If your request cannot be processed because it is incomplete, the government department or agency must notify you of it. This gives you the opportunity to provide missing information or documents. You also have the right to see your file and to know what it contains.
- Right to all necessary information. You must know which procedures to follow and the rules behind decisions. You have the right to understand the decisions made and why, in some cases, requests are refused. If you need to, you must be able to talk with the person in charge of your file and ask that person questions.
- Right to a timely decision. The wait time considered reasonable varies depending on the situation and the type of decision.
- Right to know about available recourse following a refusal. If there are administrative (and not judicial) channels for repealing a decision, you have the right to know about them.
What to expect in cases of refusal
Before making decisions, government departments or agencies are obliged to consider all the information on record. They must also apply all the rules required by your situation.
Generally, decisions must be communicated to you in writing. The response must be concise and given in clear language that you can understand. The response must indicate:
- the reasons for the decision;
- the rules and requirements used to arrive at the decision;
- the information and documents taken into account;
- the deadline for applying for review of the decision;
- which agency to approach to request review.
If you do not receive a letter of refusal, ask for one. It’s an important tool for contesting the decision.
Have your rights been violated?
Contact the Protecteur du citoyen. Our services are user-friendly, confidential and free
